lasttimeisaw As claimed by the title, this kitsch murder spree is a pastiche of that delectable Betty Davis and Joan Crawford camp classic WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962), in fact, it is produced by the same director/producer Robert Aldrich after the said film and a follow-up HUSH… HUSH, SWEET CHARLOTTE (1964), so it loosely constitutes a trilogy where the plot pits two aging women, one good, one evil against each other, only this time, the one sits in the director chair is the TV journeyman Lee H. Katzin, who replaced Bernard Girard after four-weeks of filming.In Tuscon, Arizona, an uppity widow Claire Marrable (Page) lives in a house in the desert, she has been bequeathed by her late husband with nothing but a briefcase contains the stamps he had collected. To make ends meet and maintain a well-off front, she bloodily murders her housekeepers, buries them under the pine trees in her garden, in order to take possession of their life-long savings. The gentle Miss Edna Tinsley (Dunnock) is her latest victim. Time to hire a new one, here comes Ms. Dimmock (Gordon), aka. aunt Alice, who is also a widow with no one else in the world, which makes her an easy target. But as time goes by, Claire unexpectedly finds a whiff of compatibility with her. Yet, Aunt Alice has her own ulterior motive, soon suspicion arouses and a cat-fight has been brewing only to leave one of them breathing.The script is inconsistent in shaping up a plausible story (the ending with that deus ex machina is rather lame) and the subplot of a matinée-idol looking Mike Darrah (Fuller), who is the only one could rightfully refer to Ms. Dimmock as aunt Alice, courting a young widow Harriet Vaughn (Forsyth), who lives in a cottage nearby Claire with her son Jim (Barbera), strikes as tedious and out of place.Geraldine Page is in her full-fledged evil form, deliciously camp from her first scene until the very last one (honed up by Gerard Fried's overblown score), as if she was fully aware of the shoddy fodder at her disposal and decided to tirelessly ginger it up with unreserved histrionics to portray Claire's tortured mind, her poisoned thought about "courage to kill" and her absolute selfishness, and it is wonderfully ravishing, she is the one who single-handedly rescues this widow-exploited pulp fiction from being left into oblivion. Ruth Gordon, at the heel of her Oscar-winning victory in Polanski's ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968), is less memorable in playing an upright role, but little does one know, after rooting for her from the onset, one might overlook that there will be a different denouement for her. Truly evil can never win in the long run, but en route to its doom, it might also take some good souls for company, that is rightfully acceptable under the context, which contrives to e a boon in this patchy murder follies after all.

evanston_dad What a riot! Geraldine Page plays a widow left destitute by her husband, who lives off the savings of maids she hires and then kills. Along comes Ruth Gordon, posing as a maid but actually investigating the disappearance of her lady "companion," and we, the audience, get to sit back and watch her salt-of-the-earth demeanor bounce off of Page's histrionic diva.Is it even possible to be bored by a Page performance? This script is far beneath her, she knows it, and decides to go for it, playing the role as about off-the-wall as you could get without descending into straight camp. She and Gordon are so talented, and so compulsively watchable, that you actually care what happens in this second-rate rip-off of other macabre crazy women films like "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?" and "Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte." Robert Aldrich, the director of both of those films, serves as producer on this one, so maybe it's not exactly ripping off if you're stealing from yourself.And it's a got a groovy score by Gerald Fried (random trivia: he would be nominated for a Best Original Score Oscar in 1975 for the documentary "Birds Do It, Bees Do It') that makes one wonder what he was smoking when he composed it. It sounds like something from a movie about Spanish bullfighters.Grade: B+

JLRMovieReviews Geraldine Page is left nothing of value by the passing of her husband and she has to fend for herself. Fast forward, she goes to live near her only blood kin, a nephew in Arizona. We see her at night in her garden digging a hole with her new companion/nursemaid. She is planting a new pine tree and then all of a sudden she hits her friend over the head. In the morning, there is a new pine tree planted firmly in the ground, in line with the others. Enter Mildred Dunnock, her new companion. There seems to be a pattern here.I, and other Geraldine Page fans, have already died and gone to heaven, as we are shown Miss Page's dark side and another tour-de-force performance. If all you know of Miss Page is "The Trip to Bountiful," "Sweet Bird of Youth," and "Summer and Smoke," then you're in for a treat. There's even a twist in the ending that keen observers will know is coming, even from the beginning. (By the way, if you didn't know, she would provide the voice of Madame Medusa in Disney's "The Rescuers.")Ruth Gordon shows up applying for the position and gives Miss Page a run for her money, who is also a joy to watch. Also starring Rosemary Forsyth, this is one offbeat tale that shouldn't be missed. If you're a fan of "Baby Jane" and "Sweet Charlotte," then move over for Geraldine Page. Better yet, stay out of her way!

bensonmum2 Claire Marrable (Geraldine Page) is shocked to learn that her late husband has left her with nothing but debts. How is she to live in the style she's grown accustomed? To solve her problem, she comes up with a fiendish plot. What if she were to hire a servant/companion with a small life savings, dupe her out of the money, and then kill her? Well, that's exactly what Claire does. She disposes of the bodies under pine trees growing in her garden. All is going well for Claire until Alice Dimmock (Ruth Gordon) shows up at her door looking for a job. Claire doesn't realize it but the nosey Alice is no ordinary employee. Can Alice discover Claire's secret before another pine tree is planted? What a wonderful movie! In short, What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? is a deliciously twisted tale of greed and murder filled with plenty of suspense, real atmosphere, rock solid acting, witty writing, and some of the darkest humor put on film. It's a real winner from start to finish. And while I'm sure I could go on and on praising the film, it's the acting that sets it apart from similar movies. To call Geraldine Page's performance brilliant would be a gross understatement. The gleeful menace in her voice and on her face as she goes about psychologically torturing (and killing) those see sees as beneath her is amazing to watch. And if her presence wasn't enough, along comes Ruth Gordon. She's feisty, fun, and every bit the equal of Page in her role as the titular Aunt Alice. Watching these two spar when all the film's secrets have been revealed is one of those moments I won't soon forget. These are the screen moments that keep me searching out new movies.Nobody asked, but if I had to come up with one flaw, I suppose it would be the supporting cast. None of the other actors does anything to stand out. But how could they? Compared with Page and Gordon . . . well, there's really no comparison.Finally, from the outside some 40 years after the movie was made, I'd bet the actors had a blast making What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? I can just imagine Page and Gordon having a good long laugh after shooting some of their scenes together. Then again, maybe it's just me. All I know is that I had a great time watching them work together. An 8/10 seems about right to me.